


Crystal Clear

by typicalaveragefangirl



Category: Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, F/M, Fluff, Wedding Planning, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:08:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25541110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/typicalaveragefangirl/pseuds/typicalaveragefangirl
Summary: Crystal Clear, or, five times Clarkeman planned their wedding and one time all of the planning was done.I needed some more fluff in my life. If you do, too, this is that.Yay for Discord summer fic exchange (special thanks to all the headcanons borrowed)! I hope you enjoy it, Amanda. :)
Relationships: Zoey Clarke & Max Richman, Zoey Clarke/Max Richman
Comments: 22
Kudos: 32
Collections: Summer 2020 Discord Gift Exchange





	1. Five.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ladylillianrose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladylillianrose/gifts).



**One. The Planning.**

Zoey Clarke could not stop looking at her left hand. And  _ every single time _ she did it put a smile on her face. Because there, where her fourth finger meets her knuckle, sat the perfect engagement ring: a soft rose gold band studded with small diamonds wrapping around a beautiful teardrop stone.

“If you don’t like it,” Max said, startling Zoey who was sitting at the kitchen island eating toast for breakfast, “we can go look for something else together.” He crossed over to her, planting a quick kiss on her forehead before pouring coffee into his travel mug. They both gathered the things they needed for work and headed toward the door.

“Are you joking?” she asked, looking down at her finger again, “It’s perfect.” Apart from when Mo occasionally forced accessories on her, Zoey wasn’t used to wearing much jewelry—it always just seemed to get in the way—but she’d refused to take this ring off for even a second since Max had proposed 36 hours prior. 

It had been the perfect night. Learning from Zoey’s poor reaction to public declarations of love in the past, Max decided not to make a big, grand gesture. Instead, he’d rented a small two-person sailboat and taken Zoey to a sandbar in the San Pablo Bay for a small picnic. After they’d eaten, Max had popped a bottle of champagne and then placed a small black box tentatively on Zoey’s thigh. 

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Zo,” he’d said. “And I know that in the past I’ve gotten places in our relationship a little faster than you did, so I am more than happy to pretend this didn’t happen and put this back in my sock drawer where it’s been living for the last six months. But I love you with my entire heart and that’s never going to change.” 

Tears had filled Zoey’s eyes the moment Max had taken the box out, so by the time he’d finished his speech they were freely flowing down her cheeks. She’d slowly opened the box with trembling fingers. “Max…” she said, looking at his eyes that were shining with love and nerves. “Will you marry me?” she asked. He’d laughed and pulled her into a long, slow kiss, and then put the ring on her finger. The champagne was flat by the time they had gotten to drinking it.

It had been so perfect, Zoey didn’t even mind when Monday morning had come. It had been almost two years since Ava had fired Max and he’d gotten a job managing a team of video game developers at Ubisoft, and Zoey still wasn’t used to looking up from her desk and not seeing Max look back at her. She had a feeling, however, that not seeing him look back at her today would be a little less painful when she remembered she got to  _ marry _ her best friend. 

Max pulled over in the firelane in front of SPRQ Point and leaned over to give her a quick kiss. “I thought we could go to the library after work,” he said. “I’ll pick you up at five and we can head there?” Zoey didn’t have any idea why he wanted to go to the library, but there was a car behind them honking so she gave Max a quick nod and smile as she said goodbye.

For all the time she’d spent looking at her ring over the last day, Zoey hadn’t put two and two together that other people might look at it, too. So when she waved good morning to her team and Tobin immediately screamed, “JOAN! Joooooaaaaan, come quick! Glen is on fire!” she’d been startled. 

A few moments later, clearly not too concerned about Glen, Joan still had not left her office. Zoey watched Tobin as he marched to her, grabbed her by the arm, and then brought her to Zoey’s desk. “Um, can I help you with something?” Zoey asked them. 

“Yes, you can. You can help Joan pay up,” he said turning to their boss. Tobin pointed at Zoey’s hand with a satisfied smirk. “I believe you owe me $50.” 

Zoey glanced down at her finger and instantly realized what the bet had been; she was not at all surprised Tobin had bet on her and Max getting married, but she was surprised that he’d figured out Max had proposed so quickly after it happened. “How did you even see my ring?” she asked. “I barely waved at you.” 

“Oh please, Zoey,” Joan said, “Stevie Wonder could’ve seen that rock.” She was acting annoyed, but Zoey was sure that it had more to do with being out of fifty bucks than it was with the actual engagement. 

“Sorry, boss,” she said with a shrug. It was a lie; she wasn’t sorry. 

* * *

Max and Zoey walked to the circulation desk hand in hand when they got to the library after work. The librarian greeted them with a smile. “Welcome, folks! How can I help you today?” 

Max returned her smile. “Hi, Amanda,” he said, reading her name tag. “My  _ fiance _ and I were wondering if you have any wedding planning books?” God, he was cute when he was doting. 

The three of them made small talk as she led them to the correct shelf and pulled out  _ How to have the wedding you want (not the one everybody else wants you to have) _ by Christine Egan and  _ Weddiculous: An Unfiltered Guide to Being a Bride _ by Jaime Lee. “These are a couple I found particularly helpful when planning my wedding!” she said with a smile, leaving them to browse. 

“I know we haven’t talked about it much yet,” Max said, “but I bought a journal today that we can use to work through all of our decisions. And I set up a shared excel doc so we can decide whether we like having a physical or online copy better. But in the meantime I thought reading might be helpful since I’ve never really planned a wedding before! Oh, I also-”

“How long have you been planning this?” Zoey interrupted with a grin, “You’re cute when you’re scheming.” 

“You mean how long have I been planning our wedding or how long have I been planning to marry you?” 

“Both, either.” 

“Well, I didn’t start planning the wedding until this morning in case you had told me to put the ring back in my sock drawer, but let’s just say I didn’t get much work done today,” he said sheepishly. “As for the marrying you part… Do you remember that barbecue we had at your mom’s last summer when you were playing with Peter in the sprinkler?” 

When Zoey nodded, Max continued. “Well, there was this moment when you threw him up in the air and you were both giggling at each other, and then David sprayed you in the face with a hose. You turned from the happiest auntie to the angriest little sister in a split second, and I realized I didn’t want to live without either of those yous. I went out and bought your ring the next day.” 

Zoey leaned over and kissed him. “I love you, Mr. Richman.” 

“I love you, too, Ms. Zoey Clarke-almost Richman.” 

  
  


**Two. The Panic.**

“Okay, hear me out,” Zoey said, throwing one of the wedding planners she had been reading to the foot of the bed, “what if we just go to the courthouse and elope.” 

Max glanced over at her, trying to gauge whether she was being serious or joking. He’d always just assumed they would have a big wedding, but he suddenly realized that they’d never  _ really _ talked about it. “That’s an option,” he said honestly. As excited as he was to stand in front of each of their friends and swear to love Zoey for the rest of his life, he was more excited to actually get to love her every day for the rest of his life. “But I don’t think we’ll be able to get our deposit on the venue back.” 

Zoey took a deep breath and scattered a few of the papers sitting between them as she got up and started pacing. Apparently she wasn’t joking. Max jumped up too and pulled her into a tight hug. “We’ll do whatever you want, Zo. And whatever we do will be great!” 

“But will it?” she asked. “You’re the one who told me that all of my relationships were exhausting and apt to end in flames or whatever your words were.” 

“Okay, well that was like, three years ago, and I’m pretty sure my subconscious knew I was in love with you and was just a little jealous.” 

“This isn’t a time for joking, Max!” She said, pulling away from him. “What if I’m a terrrrrible wife? Like, I still don’t know how to fold fitted sheets. Aren’t wives supposed to know how to do that? What if I can never learn to make good banana bread? And what if we have a kid! I don’t know how to put a crib together. What happens when I change my last name and David is the only one who carries on the Clarke name? We all know I’ll probably spill red wine on my dress before the ceremony. And what about-” 

Max put his hands on Zoey’s shoulders. “Sloooooow down, babe. Your internalized patriarchal societal norms are showing. It’s alright. We’re alright,” Max said. He sat on the edge of bed and pulled her onto his lap, rubbing his hand in a slow circle around her back to calm her down. When her breathing had slowed to a normal pace, he began talking again. “I don’t mind wrinkly sheets. I don’t really like banana bread anyway. If we have kids, we can learn how to build a crib together. Or pay somebody to do it. And I just always assumed you’d keep Clarke in your name, so our hypothetical children can have it too if that makes you feel better.” 

“What about the red wine?” 

“Simple, we’ll just save that for after pictures are done, and then it won’t matter when you spill.” Zoey laughed just a little bit, and then they were both quiet. Tentatively, Max said, “Do you want to tell me what this was really about?” 

Zoey sighed and buried her head in his shoulder. “The book I was reading talked about how some couples like to involve friends in the ceremony by having them sing as we walk down the aisle…” 

_ Ahhhhh, there it was. _ “And you realized your dad wouldn’t be there to walk with you,” Max offered. Zoey nodded, but remained silent. 

“The night your dad died,” Max continued, deciding to tell Zoey one of the few things he’d never mentioned to her, “I told him that I loved you. As more than a friend. Honestly? My rambling skills that night rivaled yours just a minute ago.” Zoey laughed, and Max knew he’d made the right decision telling her this story. Mitch had passed away, but he wasn’t gone from either of their hearts. Not talking about it won’t make the pain that comes with him not being part of their wedding go away. 

“One of the things I told him is that I would love you no matter what—or who—you chose. And that stands true today,” he said. “If you want to elope, we can call your mom and brother and go to city hall tomorrow. If you want me to walk down the aisle with you, I will. I could make a few calls and see if Bill Nye is available to escort you. I want to marry  _ you _ , Zoey, spilled wine and all. However you’ll have me. But us getting married? All that  _ really _ changes is how we file our taxes.”

**Three. The Power Problem.**

Zoey opened the door to her and Max’s apartment and instantly heard the sound of him playing piano fill the air. She walked into the living room, throwing her bag down on the couch and joining him on the bench with a quick kiss. He was still dressed in his work clothes, but he’d removed his tie and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows. 

“Sorry I’m late,” she said. “Leif found a bug in the Chirp update that was set to deploy tonight so I stayed to help him fix it. Whatcha up to?” 

“No problem! Pizza is on the way,” Max said. “I’ve just been trying to decide what song we should use for our first dance.” He transitioned from aimlessly playing to playing the intro to Endless Love, and then was singing to her. “ _ My love, there’s only you in my life, _ ” he sang. “ _ The only thing that’s bright _ .” 

Glitching aside, Zoey still wasn’t completely comfortable singing with Max when he played, but when he nodded her in, she decided to oblige. “ _ My first love, you’re every breath that I take. You’re every step I make _ ,” she sang. Their voices joined together for the chorus, a knock on the door interrupting the song before the next verse. 

Max got up and grabbed his wallet, heading to the door and was back a second later with the pizza box. They settled into the couch with full plates and beer. “Seriously, though,” Max said between bites, “we should probably figure out a first dance song. How do you feel about Endless Love?” 

“It is… a lovely song,” Zoey said, and Max could hear the hesitation in her voice. 

“But?” 

“Tobin, uh, heartsang it once… to a giant plate of cookies. Kinda ruined the romance of it for me.” 

“Oh, god,” Max said with an exaggerated sigh. “I never thought about that. This is going to be just like when Peter was born and every single name David suggested reminded Emily of a guilty client she had kept out of jail, isn't it?” 

“There’s millions of songs out there,” Zoey said, trying to stay positive. “We just have to find  _ one _ that works. It can’t be that hard, right?” 

“Right,” he agreed. “Okay, what about Conversations in the Dark by John Legend?” 

“I feel like if we’re doing John Legend, we should probably do All of Me,” Zoey said with a knowing smirk, and it was Max’s turn to grimace.

“Nope, hard pass on that one,” Max said quickly. “I am too terrified I would break out in Pitbull mid-song again. Pitbull has a time and a place and that time and place is preferably an hour or two into our wedding dance when the guests are all drunk already so I’m not the only one making a fool of myself. What about Perfect by Ed Sheeran? We could do the duet with Beyonce or the original.” 

“My parents sang that on their last wedding anniversary,” Zoey said. “I’m not sure if that makes me more or less inclined to say yes to it.” 

“We can table it for now and revisit if we’re otherwise unsuccessful. How about 10,000 hours by Dan + Shay?” Max asked.    


“I’ve never heard anybody sing that one,” Zoey admitted. “But I think I’m fundamentally opposed to Justin Bieber performing part of my first dance.” 

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just disrespect the Biebz so I can still go ahead and marry you,” Max responded sarcastically. “What about Adore You by Harry Styles, is he a better choice for you, darling?” 

“He is, but Tobin sang that to Queen Bey the other day when he snuck her into work.” 

“God damn it, Tobin—he’s ruining all of the best songs. What about Do You Remember by Jack Johnson?” 

Zoey laughed. “Max, you’ve literally heartsung that song to me  _ at least _ five times. Honestly? I’m a little bored of it by now.” 

Max shrugged, a grin spreading across his face. “What can I say? It’s like, kind of the story of our love. You’ve had this power for so long now that I can’t quite remember what songs I’ve actually sung to you and which songs just remind me of how much I love you.” 

“How about Only Us from Dear Evan Hansen?” Zoey suggested, trying to ignore the fact that her porcelain skin was betraying her into blushing at a compliment from her  _ fiance _ . On a recent trip to New York, Max had taken it upon himself to introduce her to the world of Broadway musicals, one part of her musical education that her power hadn’t explored much. 

“Seems a little too depressing for our first dance, don’t you think?” Max got up and headed back to the piano. They weren’t having much luck with current music, so he flipped through one of his music books of classic piano ballads. Your Song by Elton John caught his eye, so he started playing it and sang along. 

“I do love that song,” Zoey said. “I heard David singing it to Emily and Peter one night. I’m not sure if it was a heart song or just a lullaby, but we could definitely table it.” 

Another song caught Max’s eye as he flipped through the book. “ _ I, I’m so in love with you _ ,” he sang, “ _ Whatever you want to do is alright with me. Cause you make me feel so brand new and I want to spend my life with you. _ ” 

Zoey couldn’t help but laugh at the memory of Leif dancing around the bullpen at SPRQ Point years ago. Max had been there, too, and not for the first time Zoey found herself longing for the ability to transfer her power to him for just a minute. “Leif sang that song to Joan when they were sleeping together during the Chirp era,” she admitted when Max gave her a ‘is my singing really that bad?’ look. 

“I’ve got it!” Max said a few minutes later, pulling out the tablet he kept at the piano and typed something into Google. He started playing and Zoey was reminded of just how hot it was when he slid his fingers along the keys. 

“ _ Don't go changing to try and please me, you never let me down before, _ ” he sang. “ _ Don't imagine you're too familiar, and I don't see you anymore. _ ” 

Zoey knew immediately why he’d picked Billy Joel. She thought back to that day, years ago now, when he’d saved her during the Pressure glitch; it was the first time she had really admitted to herself that Max was her person. She knew the discussion was over. This was it.

She got up and joined him on the piano bench, and surprised Max when she took the next verse without any prompting. “ _ I would not leave you in times of trouble, we never could have come this far. I took the good times; I’ll take the bad times. _ ” 

Max joined her, harmonizing for the next time, “ _ I’ll take you just the way you are. _ ” 

Max stopped playing the piano, leaned over, and kissed Zoey. He had other things in mind for his fingers the rest of the night. 

**Four. The Perfect One.**

Zoey had tried on roughly 800 wedding dresses—in addition to a couple rompers and a surprisingly flattering pantsuit—and she was  _ over  _ it. So over it, in fact, that she was seriously considering bringing up eloping again. But then she thought about dancing under the stars with Max on their wedding night, and walked back to the dressing room to try on another dress. 

“That’s nice, sweetie,” Maggie said when Zoey came back in a mermaid style gown full of sequins. Her sweet, optimistic mother wasn’t fooling anyone. 

“You look like you belong on an advertisement for FarmersOnly.com,” Emily said when Zoey came out in the next dress adorned with lace. She picked up a fake southern accent. “Get Maxie boy some cowboy boots and y’all will be fixing to yeehaw right on into forever.” 

Zoey didn’t even get the chance to see herself in the mirror before Mo shouted “NEXT” to the following option. 

But then she put on a flowing a-line dress with a natural waist; it had champagne charmeuse covered with white tulle and embroidered with flowers. She honestly hadn’t expected to like the dress. It wasn’t anything like what she was looking for when she’d started trying on the first of the 800 options. But it was  _ perfect _ . She slowly walked out to the room her mom, Mo, and Emily were sitting in and their jaws dropped. 

Zoey stood on the pedestal in front of the giant mirrors as the store attendant put a veil in her hair. Everyone was quiet for a moment as they all just looked at her. 

“It’s so beautiful that I don’t think I’ll even be able to get the payback I had planned for TrainGate,” Emily said eventually with a soft smile, trying to appear less emotional than her words suggested. Zoey knew that it was  _ the _ dress when even Emily didn’t have a single complaint. 

She looked back at Maggie who was sobbing silently; her mom didn’t have to say it for Zoey to know they were both thinking about how much Mitch would’ve loved how much Zoey loved this dress. 

“That’ll do, Red,” Mo said finally. “That’ll do.” 

**Five. The Party.**

Neither Zoey nor Max had wanted stereotypical bachelorette and bachelor parties, but they did plan a weekend full of wedding festivities a few weeks before the big day. 

Max’s siblings flew in on Thursday night for a long weekend so that his brothers could get fitted for their suits and his sisters for their bridesmaid dresses. Since they were already there, Maggie had planned a small family dinner on Friday night rather than a typical bridal shower so she could get to know some of Max’s family before the wedding, and the future Richmans had planned their respective parties for Saturday. 

Max’s brother Lee had surprises planned for him all day, but Zoey didn’t want to surrender complete control to Mo and had opted to take a somewhat mellow route—going to a spa in Santa Rosa for the morning and then heading up to the Francis Ford Coppola Winery for the afternoon. The winery had cabins to rent for the night, a gigantic pool to lounge in, and all the wine her heart could desire. 

Joan, Emily, Max’s sister Evelyn, and his sister-in-law Caroline met at Mo's apartment building on Saturday morning for a round of mimosas before heading to the spa in a limo Joan had rented for the day. There, they were pampered with massages, facials, mani/pedis, and a round of mojitos—just because they weren’t going bar hopping didn’t mean Zoey wasn’t planning to get tastefully intoxicated. 

On the way to the winery, the party played “Name 3,” a game where somebody named a category related to weddings and Zoey had to either name 3 things in that category in 15 seconds or take a drink. 

“Name 3… first dance songs!” Evelyn said when it was her turn. 

That one was easy for Zoey since she and Max had come up with so many options just a couple of months ago. “Endless Love, Perfect, All of Me!” 

“Okay, then,” Joan countered when she’d nailed that question in just a few seconds, “how about 3 songs to have sex to.” 

“Uhhhhh, Lollipop by Lil Wayne, Cherry Wine by Hozier, aannnnnnd,” Zoey said. She knew she was running out of time. Luckily, her power was finally coming in handy—a few years ago she definitely would’ve been taking the shots. “LIKE A VIRGIN, MADONNA!” she shouted just in time. 

“Poor Max,” Mo deadpanned. 

Once they transitioned away from song categories, though, Zoey wasn’t as lucky. Romantic poets or poems? She couldn’t even think of one. Diamond cuts? She’d confidently shouted teardrop, only to find the official cut of her ring was considered “pear” and was too annoyed at that intricate detail to think of anything else before time ran out. Celebrity couples? “Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams! Meghan Markle and Prince Harry! Marie and Pierre Curie!” 

“Who?” 

“They were both scientists in-”

“Scientists don’t count,” Mo said immediately, handing Zoey her third shot in as many minutes as they got to the winery. 

They all got settled in their cabins, changed into their pool attire, and then met inside to get wine before claiming a corner of the pool as their own. It was a great, relaxing afternoon only interrupted by a few drunk heartsongs from strangers. Zoey especially loved getting to spend time with Caroline and Evelyn; she’d met them a few times over the last couple of years and really enjoyed both of them, and this was the perfect way to learn more about them. 

The crew went into the winery restaurant to grab some dinner and sat there talking for a few hours while draining another several bottles of wine. Zoey was well past buzzed, most of her way to being entirely too intoxicated to be considered anything resembling tasteful. The conversation turned to Evelyn and Caroline sharing stories about Max from his time pre-SPRQ Point, and suddenly she needed to hear his voice. “I’ll be right back! Need to run to the restroom,” she said. 

She dialed as she walked to the restroom to keep up appearances, and Max answered on the third ring with, “How’s your last night of freedom before you’re stuck with me for the rest of your life?” 

“Our wedding isn’t for almost a month,” Zoey countered. “I’ve still got plenty of time to hit up all my favorite strip clubs.” When Max laughed she smiled. “I miss you.” 

“You’re druuuuuunk, babe,” he said. 

“Well so are you!” She stated. She might be slurring her speech, but he was too. “Are you having fun? What did Lee plan for you?” 

“We started at Top Golf, which I was absolutely horrendous at, but it was a good time,” Max said. “Then David brought us all out on a sailboat for lunch which was very fun, and then we went to the beer gardens, and now we are heading to a trampoline park where Lee had them set up a replica elimination chamber before we go to a karaoke bar!”

“What is an elimination chamber?” Zoey asked. 

“It’s like, uh, a special WWE cage match that Lee and I loved as kids,” Max explained to the best of his ability. 

“WWE? Like, professional wrestling?” 

“There’s still much you don’t know about me, Zoey Clarke.” 

Zoey didn’t have time to respond to Max, because at the same time Caroline burst into the bathroom and said, “Zoey Margaret Lillian Lane Clarke, you better not be talking to your fiance!” She grabbed the phone out of Zoey’s hand, looked at the screen, and then said, “Goodnight, Maxwell. Your lady loves you!” before hanging up. 

* * *

“Goodnight, Maxwell,” he heard Caroline say, “your lady loves you!” 

“Was that Zo?” David asked. He, Max, and Elliott, one of Max’s friends from work, were in one Lyft while Max’s brothers Lee and Scott and Evelyn’s boyfriend Lucas were in another heading to the trampoline park. 

“Yep,” he responded. “Sounded like they were having lots of fun!” 

They all arrived at the trampoline park, and Lee immediately launched into telling David and Elliott his favorite story (and the basis from which this plan was born) from their childhood; Max had heard it probably a hundred times over the years. 

“This kid in my class had told me that professional wrestling was fake when I’d talked about it,” Lee said. “So, naturally, I funneled all of my embarrassment into making Max feel the pain I had felt. I started telling him that wrestling was fake any time he brought it up and he’d cry every single time. He ran around screaming ‘ _ you can’t fake jump off a ladder, Lee _ .’ for months.” 

“Listen, I am a grown man,” Max responded. “I am aware of the art that is kayfabe. But I stand by my notion that those dudes are legitimately flying off ladders. A kid doesn’t forget watching Wrestlemania 22 for the first time and seeing Bobby Lashley just feet away from winning the Money in the Bank briefcase only for Shelton Benjamin to  **flip over** the ladder and powerbomb him with the help of Matt Hardy and Finlay.  _ He just doesn’t _ .” 

While the idea behind the elimination chamber was nice, none of the guys were really the perform-suplexes-on-each-other type. Max did try a Swanton Bomb on Lee just before they left, which surprisingly didn’t result in any broken necks. The crew mainly spent the hour just jumping around like children instead of the grown adults they appear to be. From there, they headed to The Mint, a karaoke bar in the Bay. 

When it was Max’s turn, he belted out 500 Miles by The Proclaimers—unable to contain the pure joy he felt knowing he got to marry the love of his life. 


	2. Plus One.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoey & Max promise to love each other for the rest of their lives... again.

“I super do,” Zoey said, returning the smile that was plastered across Max’s face. It still made her heart flutter even after all of these years. His eyes shone with admiration, joy, and love—and maybe just a few tears, too.

“Well, go on then,” Mo, who was performing the ceremony, said, “kiss her!” 

Max was more than happy to oblige. He took half a step closer to Zoey and dropped her hands to put his on each side of her face. They’d kissed each other a million times and each one was like declaring to love the other for the rest of their lives again. There was something special about this one, though. 

“Okay, that’s enough of that!” David said, and a small chorus of laughter erupted. Zoey stuck her tongue out at her older brother, but winked at him and threw him a soft smile as her and Max walked down the short aisle toward the reception hall. 

The rest of the night passed in a beautiful blur: Zoey’s dress, a pop of bright white in front of gorgeous fall colors that faded slightly as the sun went down and bright stars filled the crystal clear night skies. Both Zoey and Max knew there would never be another night like this, and they ate up the opportunity to share their love with their friends. They shared a delicious meal and then had an evening full of dancing and talking with the most important people in their world. 

Eventually the guests started heading home one by one. The venue was getting ready to close for the night, and there was only a small group of people left in the parking lot saying final goodbyes. Zoey gave David, Emily, and Peter one final hug as Max said his goodbyes to the rest of the group. Max and Zoey didn’t get to see all of their favorite people as much as they’d like, so there could never be too many hugs—nobody wanted to relive the hell that was the great hugless quarantine of 2020. 

“I cannot believe everything the two of you have been through,” Tobin said with a smile. He stood with his arm around Leif’s shoulder, their fingers laced together. “I’m so glad I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing it from day one.” 

“Tell us a story about young Aunt Zoey and Uncle Max,” Peter prompted Tobin. 

“I’m sure you’ve all heard about the great Pressure Presentation of ‘19?” Tobin asked Peter, Colbie, Austin, and Amelia. They all nodded. 

“Alright, well, the lesser known story of that day is that Zo also sang another song. Leif and I watched as these two hopeless sweethearts pranced around the office while Zoey sang the song I’m Yours by Jason Mraz. Keep in mind, this is before most of us knew about her power so we had no idea what the hell was going on,” Tobin said. “They sat on the ping pong table in the office making googly eyes at each other and it was at that moment Leif and I made our bet they’d get married one day. Eventually Joan got in on it, and I won $50 from each of them when Max finally proposed.” 

“The real question,” Leif joined in, “is with a vow renewal in the mix now, does that mean we each owe you another $50 since they’ve technically been married twice now?” 

“What yours is mine, dear,” Tobin said sarcastically. 

“I don’t know what it means for the bet, but I’m so glad you decided to do the renewal,” Colbie said, giving her mom and dad another hug before grabbing her husband Austin’s hand and walking to their car. “See you at dinner next week!” 

“It really was the perfect day,” Amelia agreed, heading home with her sister and brother-in-law to spend the rest of the weekend at their house before heading back to the east coast. 

The group said their final goodbyes, and then Max and Zoey headed home. After her mom had died, Zoey couldn’t bear the idea of strangers moving in so she and Max decided to move into Maggie and Mitch’s house. They walked inside and sat down in the living room as Max opened the last bottle of wine from their original wedding reception that they’d been saving for the last 35 years. He poured them each half of the bottle as they settled into the couch. 

Max took a sip of the wine, remembering the night of their wedding. He lifted his free hand to Zoey’s face, tracing the faint wrinkles that lined her eyes and kissed her temple as he pulled his wife into his side. Zoey looked back at him, grey strands speckling his dark brown hair. 

“When did you first know?” she asked Max.

“When did I first know what?” 

“That you loved me,” Zoey clarified. Max was quiet for a minute. 

“I’d like to say there was one specific moment,” Max responded. He took another sip and grabbed her hand. Sure, he’d been married to Zoey for 35 years, but he never got sick of holding her hand. “I’d like to say I fell in love with you the first day we met or the first movie night we had. That I fell in love with you the first time you invited me to the famous Clarke family barbecue or when you got your promotion or the night we first kissed. But I don’t think there was one moment. I think I just always knew—even before I knew that I knew.” 

“And I am so glad you did,” Zoeys said as she kissed him. “I know our road here wasn't always white picket fences and sunny afternoons, but I promise that I’ll love you for the rest of my life.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really struggled with writing this plus one for some reason. I usually love to write fluff, but I just couldn’t find a hook to make their “wedding” work. 
> 
> When I first started writing this fic I had Black and White by Niall Horan stuck in my mind (that’s where “Crystal Clear” came from, along with a few lines sprinkled throughout the first chapter). So when I couldn’t get any traction with writing the last part, I decided to go back to the song and the line “We’re 65 and you ask ‘when did I first know?’ I always knew” and had the idea to make the plus one set at a vow renewal way in the future. 
> 
> Wasn’t what I originally planned, so I hope it works! Constructive feedback warmly welcomed. Thanks for reading :)

**Author's Note:**

> +1 coming soon!


End file.
